ST. LOUIS – The Dodgers piled up hits for three games and had nothing to show for it. To end a season-worst four-game losing streak, they made a few count.

Matt Kemp and Casey Blake combined for seven hits and Kemp’s two-run single in the 10th was the difference in the Dodgers’ 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.

“We’ve been playing hard, we haven’t been driving in any runs,” Kemp said. “Our starting pitching has kept us in the ballgames and we’ve just got to get it done when we’ve got runners in scoring position.”

Blake had four hits and is 7 for 10 the last two games for Los Angeles, which avoided a four-game sweep and has not been swept all season. The Dodgers lead the league in hitting and are second in scoring at an average of nearly five runs a game. They finally got rolling after totaling three runs on 33 hits the first three games of the series.

“It was important to get yesterday’s game, so you can imagine what today’s was,” manager Joe Torre said. “To bounce back, it doesn’t surprise me.”

The Dodgers were 4 for 11 with runners in scoring position after going 4 for 25 the first three games. James McDonald (3-2) worked a perfect ninth and Jonathan Broxton, one strike away from ending the Dodgers’ slump Wednesday, finished for his 24th save in 27 chances.

“We’re going to have some games where we give it up some,” Broxton said. “You’ve got to bounce back the next day and have fun.”

Albert Pujols, who lined a game-winning single off Jeff Weaver in the 15th inning Wednesday, tapped out to the mound for the final out. The Cardinals, who scored 19 runs the first three games, totaled only six hits.

“We made a fight out of it, but offensively we got shut down,” manager Tony La Russa said. “They pitched us very well.”

Manny Ramirez was 3 for 18 in the series with no RBIs and is 4 for 26 in his last six games with no RBIs.

Matt Holliday became the lone Cardinal to reach base safely two or more times in his first seven games. He got an RBI single and his first homer for his new team in the first two at-bats. Holliday is batting .520 (13 for 25) since coming over from the Athletics and is a career .396 hitter at 4-year-old Busch Stadium with six homers and 10 RBIs.

Holliday is the first Cardinal since Bo Hart in 2003 to hit safely in his first seven games.

Andre Ethier walked with one out against Dennys Reyes (0-2), Blake singled and the runners advanced on a wild pitch. With two outs, Kemp lined a single off Todd Wellemeyer, moved to the bullpen after his last start and making only his second relief appearance of the season.

Consecutive intentional walks to Pujols and Holliday helped the Dodgers escape trouble in the eighth. The Cardinals left the bases loaded when Hong-Chi Kuo struck out Rick Ankiel on three pitches.

Four consecutive Dodgers reached against Kyle McClellan with one out in the seventh. Pinch-hitter Juan Pierre had an infield hit and scored from first on Rafael Furcal’s two-run double that put Los Angeles ahead 3-2.

Ankiel homered leading off the eighth to end Guillermo Mota’s scoreless streak at 20<MD+,%30,%55,%70>1/<MD-,%0,%55,%70>3 innings and tying it at 3.

Also …

The Dodgers recalled Scott Elbert from Triple-A Albuquerque and optioned fellow left-hander Brent Leach to their top farm club.

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